Jesse Leigh Green faces special hearing over alleged murder of young Tamworth mum Teah Luckwell

A ‘bloodcurdling’ scream was heard by neighbours before the alleged murder of a young mum in her NSW home, a court has heard.

Two neighbours who heard a bloodcurdling scream from their separate houses in the early hours of the morning will be key witnesses in criminal proceedings dealing with the alleged murder of young NSW mother Teah Rose Luckwell, a court has heard.

Ms Luckwell was 22 when she was found lying in a pool of blood just inside the front door of her Tamworth unit after 9pm on March 28, 2018.

Her baby daughter, unharmed, was also inside. The 13-month-old had been with her mother’s body for “a number of hours”, the NSW Supreme Court heard on Monday.

Prosecutors allege Ms Luckwell was murdered about 4.20am that morning by Jesse Leigh Green, her former neighbour, who it is alleged she had twice complained to a landlord was violent towards her.

Teah Luckwell was found dead in her Tamworth unit on the night of March 28, 2018. Photo: Ashleigh Gleeson

Mr Green, 30, has been found unfit to stand trial and is facing a special hearing before Justice Stephen Campbell.

On Monday, he was taken to have pleaded not guilty to Ms Luckwell’s murder, as well as a break and enter and assault with a weapon allegedly committed at different houses on the same night.

Crown prosecutor Brian Costello told the court two of Ms Luckwell’s neighbours had independently heard a woman scream in the early hours of the morning, checked the time, and found it was 4.20am.

One of them described it as a “protracted and bloodcurdling female scream”, he said.

CCTV footage showed a man dressed in a white T-shirt and dark jacket leaving a unit complex about 300m from Ms Luckwell’s home at 4.09am, and returning – shirtless, but carrying a white and a dark item of clothing – at about 4.22am, the prosecutor said.

The crown alleges that man was Mr Green, identifiable in the grainy footage due to his distinctive footwear: odd white socks with dark thongs.

Two neighbours heard a woman scream at 4.20am the morning she was allegedly murdered, the court heard. Picture: Supplied

Ms Luckwell was last seen alive at about 5.30pm on March 27, visiting the local library where she often went to use Facebook and getting a ride home with her sister’s partner, the court heard.

Through the day of March 28, the man who dropped her home and another friend said they had knocked on Ms Luckwell’s door, but left after hearing no answer.

It was not until after 9pm, once the sun had gone down, that passers-by were able to see into her unit, illuminated by a light on inside.

The change in light meant people in the street could see through the mesh security door, Mr Costello said, and they saw the wooden inner door was open and Ms Luckwell was lying just inside in a pool of blood.

She had three significant stab wounds, one of them fatally piercing an artery in her neck.

She was last seen alive at 5.30pm the day before. Picture: Facebook

The prosecutor said another neighbour would testify she had woken up to dogs barking at about 4.10am and realised her power was off.

When she went outside to check the fuse box, she saw all the switches had been turned off.

A DNA sample taken from the switches was a match to Mr Green, the court heard.

At about 4.56am, the crown alleges the neighbour was again disturbed by dogs, looked out her front door and saw Mr Green.

She yelled out to her partner and Mr Green allegedly charged at the door armed with a bat, slashing through the security flyscreen and hitting the wooden door just as the neighbour closed it.

Mr Costello said the incident contained parallels to the crime scene at Ms Luckwell’s home: she had been attacked with a weapon just inside her home, and her lock was busted, consistent with significant force applied to the door.

Mr Green’s barrister, Stuart Bouveng, said Ms Luckwell’s time of death and whether any other people had the motive or means to murder her, would be an issue at the hearing.

He named 10 people, saying it would be necessary to examine their state of mind, any problems or relationships they had with Ms Luckwell, and their alibis between 5.30pm on March 27, when she was last seen alive, and the evening of March 28.

He said the “rigour” of the police investigation and whether officers made “any genuine attempt” to exclude theories other than Mr Green being the killer would also come under the microscope.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, Justice Campbell appeared from Sydney, the barristers in Tamworth and Mr Green from Long Bay forensic hospital where he is receiving treatment.

The hearing continues.